


Luxuries of Salon Living

by windmarks



Category: Better Call Saul (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, One Shot, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:15:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29585013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windmarks/pseuds/windmarks
Summary: "I’ll get to do this every night. Just think about it while you sleep in your boring, totally normal apartment.”“Oh, I’ll come running to have this luxury, too.”
Relationships: Jimmy McGill | Saul Goodman/Kim Wexler
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	Luxuries of Salon Living

Kim adjusts her eyes to the sea of street lights of a warm summer night in downtown Albuquerque. Jimmy picked her up in the perpetually dim HHM parking lot, promising to surprise her tonight. They’ve since driven east, going down Juan Tabo Boulevard for what feels a lot longer than it actually was, but she wasn’t bored, she was excited to get to their destination. It was always an adventure with Jimmy.

He pulls up to what looks like a strip mall, but the stores are all closed. Her fault, she guesses, she has been calling it a night at HHM at around 9pm lately. That weird cry of the Esteem’s engine snaps her back to reality.

“Wait, are we stopping here?” She goes for her seatbelt, unsure if she should unfasten it.

Jimmy stops the car and turns to give the storefronts another look. He then looks back at her. “Yeap, that’s the place.” He undoes his own seatbelt and reaches for his briefcase in one of the backseats before stepping out of the car.

Kim follows suit, albeit a little confused. Even more so when he stops in front of a salon, or rather a nail salon, as she looks at the soft neon sign and hears him fumbling with keys.

Jimmy opens the property and holds the door for her to enter as well. Kim feels like she gets the gist of what is happening but she'd rather let him tell her.

“So this is what freedom looks like?” She gives him a quick smile and starts to take in the space.

“No, more like this is what being dirt poor looks like, but it is the first place I’ve owned since the Beachcomber.” He says sheepishly.

Kim has lived in the back of an actual liquor store as a kid. A nail salon would have been an improvement. Maybe she will tell him about it one of these days, but for now humor will do. “I gotta say, I don’t miss it there. Most of my work last year involved divorce settlements, so every time I went to that place I saw some of those guys that were on the losing side.” She says, still looking around.

Jimmy finally locks the door. “Ah, yes. That’s our lair. A perfect combo of detachment and 80’s nostalgia that’s irresistible to us.” And he places his briefcase on a counter by the entry. “I know it’s not much but it feels right. I couldn’t take being holed up in Chuck’s dungeon anymore.” Jimmy gestures vaguely around his head. Kim gets it.

“I’m surprised you lasted that long.” She says.

“It just kind of happened.” Jimmy sighs before continuing. “When I passed the bar and quit HHM I was really scrapping for money, and, by coincidence, Chuck had one of his panic attacks around that time too.”

Jimmy crosses the space to get himself a cup of water, offering Kim one as well. “He says he doesn’t feel comfortable driving anymore, so I just stuck around to get him groceries, drive him to meetings and doctor’s appointments. He’s a pain in the ass but he let me stay for free.” He says, in between sips.

“Still, I know you wanted to get your own place. I’m proud of you, Jimmy.” Kim says with a smile. “I would have brought champagne but maybe you shouldn’t show up hungover on your first day in court.” And she raises her plastic cup at him, to which he promptly responds.

“Yeah, keep it classy. Wait about a year to become an alcoholic, like everyone else in there.”

* * *

“To be honest I’m a little nervous. Most of the other Public Defenders have been doing this for a really long time and some of them work for actual offices. I’ll be going on solo.” Jimmy says, resting his weight in the counter while Kim is sitting on the chair behind it.

“If you ever need any help…” and she knows that even though the offer is sincere, he would try to dismiss it. She supposes she can’t be mad at that, she would do the same.

“I know, I know. But that asshole Howard already has you working long hours. I don’t wanna be the reason you miss the midnight showing of some classic you love.”

Kim rolls her eyes in amusement. “I’m serious, Jimmy. I know that the amount of work in PD can be… daunting. I like to take some cases from time to time and they are exhausting.” 

She knows he hasn’t been taking Howard’s rejection well. They don’t need to talk about it, but she feels compelled to show support anyway she can, even if it means saying more than she usually does. “But if you ever hit a wall I can help you. Tell you my experience. You don’t need a whole office... or a fancy firm. You and me is all we need.” Kim looks straight into his eyes before he avoids her gaze, nodding while looking at the floor.

“Thank you, Kim.” he breathes out.

* * *

They’ve been talking about Jimmy’s first day of gainful employment as a lawyer tomorrow for a while, so he decides to distract himself by showing Kim around the salon.

“So here you got your standard hair and make-up chair.” Jimmy presents the furniture like a salesman. “Only one, ‘dunno why. I thought these salons were fully equipped so gals could spend their whole day here.” He raises his hand to question the logic of it.

Kim shrugs. “Don’t look at me for answers.”

“And I guess this is how the girls make their money” Jimmy says, gesturing to the large row of pedicure chairs.”

She scrunches her face a little. “I do it at home. Never saw the appeal of strangers holding my feet."

“Maybe the massage feature would change your mind.” He offers.

Kim responds in a half serious tone. “I just said I don’t like strangers touching my feet.”

“Not the pedicurist, silly. The chair. It vibrates.” He says amusingly. “C’mon, sit down.”

She complies, actually kind of curious about it, and they each take their place next to each other.

“Now, to be honest, I haven’t messed with the controls yet. Don’t wanna break this thing by accident and lose my first paycheck.” Jimmy stretches on the chair.

Kim laughs. “Of course.”

Jimmy lowers his voice in that tone he always has when he wants to tease her. “But once I do learn, I’ll get to do this every night. Just think about it while you sleep in your boring, totally normal apartment.”

Kim tries to hide her smile but fails. “Oh, I’ll come running to have this luxury, too.” She says, not sarcastically enough.

Jimmy turns to look deep into her eyes. “Consider yourself my guest of honor.” And he can tell she has sensed the tone shift.

Being this close to Kim is like swimming in deep waters. He hasn’t dared to do this many times, so there’s still some fear of losing control, but he’s been here enough to know he can handle the current, and the danger is worth it. All she has to do is choose if she will throw him a lifeline or allow him to sink.

_ You and me is all we need.  _ As if her words from earlier hadn’t made it clear, the deep ocean in her eyes as she looked at him made him reach out.

Kim finally closes the distance between them, capturing his lips softly. 

They have their torsos turned to each other, firmly planted on their chairs, until the space between them feels too big still. Kim throws her legs aside and rests her weight on her knees until she is as close as she can be to the armrest, one arm balanced on it, the other raised to cup Jimmy’s face, who complies and inches closer as well.

They give each other a series of quick kisses mixed with long and deep ones. Undefined but caring, just as their relationship.

Kim keeps her eyes closed until she feels Jimmy planting kisses along her jawline, contouring it all the way up to her earlobe, where his lips find a longer stay, nibbling and caressing. The same tenderness is soon given to the base of her neck, eliciting a moan from her. She can’t see his actions very well, so she opts to look out the windows. Through her half open eyelids, the street lights and soft neon lighting cast by the salon’s sign enclose her in a trance, a dream. What brings her back to reality is Jimmy’s whisper in her ear.

“You’ll strain your neck like that.”he says, as he pulls away and gets up from his chair. “C’mon, we can go downstairs, if that’s okay with you.” Jimmy extends his hand.

Suddenly out of breath, Kim ponders her next words. “But you haven’t even shown me the vibrating options for these chairs.”

That unexpected response cracks Jimmy’s attempt at a relaxed expression, and he narrows his eyes a little, as if not totally convinced. “You serious? Kim, that’s fun and all, but there are no curtains on those windows. And I don’t wanna start off on the wrong foot with management here.”

It’s a good argument but she is determined. “There’s got to be a manual setting for these things, and we will be fine. These are not that heavy right?” She gestures to the pedicure chair next to her.

Jimmy tentatively goes for his now vacant chair. Half excited and half terrified to know what she’s planning and if she’s right. Sure enough, it can turn. 

He positions his chair 90 degrees to the side, the tall back of the chair now facing the window, and doesn’t waste time sitting back down.

“Perfect. Some expectation of privacy now. Not that I expected anyone to snoop here at…” Kim gets up to look at the many clocks on the wall, quickly giving up when she doesn’t see their timezone there. “Well, it’s late.” And she comes closer to straddle him on the chair.

"Never knew you were into adrenaline like this." He teases.

"Of course you do." She says matter-of-factly.

A small smile creeps up on his face, along with a glow in his eyes. "Yeah, maybe so."

Their lips soon reconnect, and Jimmy brings his hands up to caress her thighs through her jeans, while Kim works on the buttons of his dress shirt, thrilled to feel the rapid beat of his heart through his chest. Once she has all the buttons opened, she moves slightly away, so he can take both it and his undershirt off.

Feeling at a disadvantage now, Jimmy starts to tug on the hem of her shirt to untuck it from her pants, getting distracted when she runs her hands through his bare chest and shoulders, sending shivers all over. He settles for sitting up straighter to cross both of his arms around her back, causing Kim to throw her head back just enough to expose her neck and upper chest to him again.

Kim gets the message and squeezes her arms between what little space he left so she could undo her own buttons, leaving a trail of skin he can follow with his lips and warm breath.

No undershirt for Kim today, it was July after all, and upon seeing her already in her bra, Jimmy exhales in approval. Emboldened by this, Kim scoots further up and grinds against him, bringing an even louder moan from him this time, which she muffles with her own mouth on his. They are floating on an island of their own.

Jimmy brings his arms back around to cup and caress her breasts through her bra, while she kisses him and softly runs her fingernails through the nape of his neck, both should feel vulnerable and exposed, but they are each other's anchors at this point. His hands travel down to rest firmly on her hips, moving her body to grind against his once again, eager to let her know how much he was enjoying this. Following his lead, she keeps their momentum going while he can free her from her bra. Before unclasping it, Jimmy brings his eyes back to hers and nudges his head to the side, questioning.

“No sign of anyone out there.” is Kim’s breathy response.

“Thank God.” and he immediately captures a nipple with his lips, while cupping her other breast with one of his free hands. Kim’s response is to run her hands along his waist and stomach, teasing him until she has one of her hands flat on his groin, caressing with a feather touch, knowing full well he’ll be looking for more pressure soon.

One of the benefits of knowing someone for so long is reading them like an open book. It doesn’t take long for Jimmy to hold her hand in place, urging her to be more firm. She commands and he presses on the headrest so hard she worries for a second he’ll tip them over. Kim presses their chests together and uses her free hand to get his attention, cupping his jaw lightly. 

Once he has his eyes on her again, Kim says “This is really nice…” in between breaths. “... But I’m starting to take your point of not angering your landlord.”

Jimmy lets his arms loose on the armrest. “Agreed. We can hold off on this until we have a vibrating chair of our own.”

Kim chuckles. “In what scenario do we own a vibrating chair?”

“The one where we rent this salon as an office space and Mrs. Nguyen leaves one of these babies behind as gratitude for not having sex here, even though we had the chance.” He says, trying his best to keep a straight face.

She won’t waste time dwelling on this confession masquerading as banter. Jimmy has a fantasy and she can allow herself to be swept up by it tonight and not lose her sleep dissecting its meaning. Maybe the fantasy is not so bad that she needs to find excuses to shoot it down.

“Well, let’s go then. I wanna see how you can make a bed fit in that cubicle.”

“Oh, it’s that futon magic. I’ll show you.” He says, even though Kim is the one leading the way.

* * *

**_Five years later._ **

“Jimmy, c’mon, we still have to buy some paint after this.” Kim calls out from her office. She hopes he has his door open on the other side, otherwise the soundproof wall would have made it impossible for him to hear. Kim gathers the furniture moving wheels and takes one last look at her office before closing the door. _They have a practice together_. Well, not together, but under the same roof. He can call it what he wants, she finds she is more comfortable with _Wexler-McGill_ with each passing minute. 

She opens his door to find Jimmy in his sweater, jeans and work boots, staring at the center of the room. She comes to stand by his side and sees that he’s looking at the dentist chair, the only piece of furniture that’s still there.

“What are you doing?” She asks, taking turns looking at the chair and then back at him.

“I’m thinking… Ah, you’re gonna laugh at me.” He gestures for her to dismiss it.

“What? Tell me?” She is so confused all she can do is smile.

“Hm, I know this isn’t a pedicure chair, and it doesn’t even vibrate, the stupid thing…” He mocks disappointment and gestures around, hoping she will remember.

A knowing look flashes across Kim’s face. “Well… it’s not a gift from Mrs. Nguyen, but at least this one is a recliner.” She raises her eyebrows at him.

He doesn’t need to hear anything else. In a swift move, Jimmy lifts Kim by the waist and moves them to sit on the chair, her laying on top of him, to finish what they started five years ago. It was always an adventure with Jimmy.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I had this in my drafts and upon learning we were robbed of a make out scene in the dentist chair in season 2 I just felt compelled to finish this. In one seating...  
> English is not my first language and I've never written smut-ish content before. I take constructive criticism lol.


End file.
